5 Years Later
by SassafrasTea
Summary: 5 Years after the Pein attack, the 4th Shinobi war is over and Tsunade get an unexpected visitor.
1. Chapter 1

**He'd been gone for five years. **

_Five years was a very long time. _

Tsunade watched the man she had mourned until she thought she'd die from it, sit on the other side of the desk and talk about what had happened. Her whiskey eyes focused on the pinned sleeve, evidence of what he'd lost.

Jiraiya in the deep rumbling voice, hoarser now than it had been, spoke of lands outside the Allied ones, places where ninjas and chakra were the stuff of stories. Shards of the inhibitor rods in him, no way to mold chakra without an arm, he'd been stuck and slowly healed far away until finally, he'd been able to get his himself a boat and a crew to sail home.

Tsunade sat, fingers steepled and simply absorbed the shock of him being alive and in front of her. She wanted to jump the desk between them and throw her arms around him. She wanted to touch and stroke and make sure he was real, but she was scared, scared this was all a mirage of an overworked mind and she'd, he'd be gone in an instant just like he was in her dreams.

Jiraiya looked at her as he sipped tea with his remaining hand. She looked sad, tired even. He'd dreamed of coming home and seeing her and holding her in his arms, well arm now. Was that it? Surely not, they were children of war and a missing limb wasn't an oddity. Why wouldn't she reach out to him? Why wouldn't she say his name and that she was glad to see him back?

Please, his mind whispered before words came audibly. "Hime, I won our bet. Don't you think I've waited long enough for our date?"

She startled nearly spilling her tea across the desk. Of course fool, just ask and I'm yours. "You need to let me look at you and do a physical. It's been nearly a week since you came home, I can tell you are in pain. Let me heal you, and I'll go out to dinner with you tonight."

He sighed. He had purposely dodged the hospital. His body was riddled with evidence of how close he had come to death. To have her see it, to show her how he failed her, failed the village was nearly more than the white headed Sannin could take.

He knew her though. She'd never let him leave the office, if he refused. One arm, a dozen arms weren't enough to dissuade her when she got her mind fixated on a course of action. One finger, long boned and tanned rubbed his hair line as he attempted to throw her off. "I didn't know you wanted to get your hands on me that bad Hime. You should have spoken up; I would have stripped for you the day I came back."

"Fool," was her response, full of irritability. Tsunade knew, of course she knew that he was attempting to cover up his unease. How many times had they played this game? Heeled steps followed by his swaying ones, the sounds of a body still not used to the loss of an arm walked to the hospital and the first empty room they came to.

Her arms crossed and an eyebrow rose. "You said you'd strip for me Jiraiya. Do it now so I can see how badly you've hurt yourself."

Dark eyes focused on her whiskey ones, he sighed and turned his back unable to stand the expression she was sure to have. Haltingly, a hand pulled up the kimono to and slid it off his broad shoulders. There had been no need or even way to wear the normal under armor he had before the fight. Jiraiya, legendary Sannin of the Leaf, was a Shinobi no more. Bare save for the cloth tired to the end of his arm, the Toad Sage stiffened when a manicured hand touched above missing flesh.

"I'm sorry Hime. I meant to stay whole for you, and I simply… I failed you."

Her brow furrowed. He was alive. It was all that mattered to her. Tsunade couldn't, refused not reach out and touch and know for sure that he was here breathing and in front of her, but his words, his self loathing words wounded. Hands that touched dropped and she stepped away angrily.

"You're an idiot. You think scars bother me. You think losing your damn arm is going to drive me away. Does unblemished skin mean that much to you."

Tsunade jerked her obi knot loose and dropped it to the ground before shrugging off her gambler's jacket and kimono top. She didn't cover her bare chest, didn't make an attempt to cover the scars that riddled her abdomen and the line from where she was bisected. Instead she stalked in front of him and grabbed his hand to put it to the raised flesh.

"Should I be sorry as well? Did I fail you Jira?"

His eyes focused, how could they not, on her chest, before it processed that his finger wasn't touching soft supple skin, but instead the smooth almost slick surface of a scar. Knees popped as he squatted down and traced his finger over each raised line. Just how close she had come to dying while he was in a foreign land?

"Hime…"

Jiraiya slowly, knowing she was likely to kill him for it pressed his face against the softness of her stomach. "And you call me a fool. Precious woman, like I would ever think less of you for having battle scars. Don't be naïve."

Tsunade rested her hand on his head and ruffled his hair. "You're an idiot Jiraiya and a fool as well. I'll do the physical and you can take me out to dinner. You won the bet after all."


	2. Chapter 2

She asked him to stay with her that night. He'd nearly choked on the ramen he was eating when she said the words. Jiraiya wanted to ask if it was out of pity. Did she feel guilty for not arguing more and going with him? He titled his forward in acceptance, not trusting himself to speak. In truth it didn't matter, five years in hell he'd take whatever pity scraps she'd toss him.

The tab was paid. In the five years he'd been gone Tsunade, keeper of his estate had simply collected his royalties and set up stipends for Naruto. He was a rich man for all that it cost him.

Her apartment smelled like tea and her perfume. It was a heady combination.

"I'll just-" He trailed off looking down at her in question. He was with her in her bedroom, the rumpled blankets a foot away and he was terrified out of his mind. What if he messed this up? What if she changed her mind?

"Lay down Jiraiya."

"I'll just lay down then."

Stiffly, not even removing his kimono top that smelled not surprisingly like the ramen shop, he laid down on his back. What was she up to?

The bed shifted as she crawled across it, still dressed. The scent of perfume got stronger as she curled up against him, arms around his neck and cried, deep harsh sobs that shook her small frame. He took it, took every bit of her tears. His arm, tanned and roped with lean muscles curled around as he stayed resolute; a lighthouse to guide her back.

When the sobs quieted to small whimpers and then nothing, Tsunade spoke. Her voice was rough and it halted as she told her tale of the last five years. She talked of the Pein invasion and of grabbing Katsuyu for dear life and pouring every bit of chakra she had into the slug.

She talked of thinking she was going to die, of expecting to die when she stepped down into the gully the rebuilt village sat in to face off. Her voice held a tinge of wonder when she spoke of Naruto stepping in front of her and telling her to go drink tea and then waking up six months later to find they were going to war and the sacrifice she made to save who she could meant nothing.

Her arms tightened then and there was a small silence before the Sannin spoke of war preparation and the coming together of the five Allied nations to fight. She spoke of her fight with Madara haltingly as the memory haunted her nightmares nearly every night.

Her voice brightened as she recalled Orochimaru of all people showing up and putting her back together and then of nearly killing herself again to summon as much of Katsuyu as she could along with her pupil to provide a foothold for the Shinobi alliance.

Tsunade lapsed into quiet after that. The war over had been and she'd come home after healing the wounded. The Leaf quietly buried its dead and rebuilt.

What could he say to her? He was a master of word craft, a bestselling author, but what could he say to the shattered woman holding on to him?

"Hime, I wish…I wish I had made it back sooner. I wish I had two arms to hold on to you and the ability to be strong, to be your shield so that you never have to face anything alone again." His tongue came out to wet dry lips. "I'm a broken man, but these pieces of me. There yours if you want them. I give you my shoulder to cry on as long as you need it. I give you my hand to wipe away the tears. I give you-"

The words were cut off as she moved and sealed her mouth over his. It was a kiss a lifetime in the making and he wouldn't sully it by trying to speak more. She tasted of noodles and the tea she'd drank with dinner along with a deeper flavor reminiscent of honey. It reminded him of being a child and finding the combs in one of the Leaf's towering redwoods. He'd been stung a half dozen times but it had been worth it for the sweet reward.

When they broke for air and she curled back up against him, relaxing in sleep, and worn out from her breakdown, he kept his arm tight around her. He had her now, had this Senju princess and enigma of a woman. He wasn't going to let go.


	3. Chapter 3

Jiraiya stared at the ceiling. It had been a week since he'd first spent the night with Tsunade. They hadn't kissed again, although she tended to pat him like some sort of great beast she'd tamed, just a hand on his shoulder or even a lean against him. Was she still scared he would leave? A snuffling sound brought him out of his musings, they hadn't kissed again, but he'd spent every night in the blonde's bed with her curled tightly against him.

And Tsunade, Princess of the Leaf snored.

His hand smoothed back blonde hair before making its journey down to where her shirt had rode up in sleep. Fingers long and calloused traced the scars he could feel. It hurt him, knowing she had been so close to death and him a continent away.

"Hime, Hime wake up." The words were spoken before he even realized the intent. There was a plan formulating in his mind, a need to protect his precious people. He focused on her sleep creased face as she blinked up at him before looking ill tempered.

"Are you on fire?" she asked bluntly, eyes still languid with sleep.

Knowing that any answer was going to get a glare before she simply collapsed back on him in sleep, the Toad Sage spoke quickly. "I need you to make me a prosthetic for my arm. I need something so that I can mold chakra again."

Her whiskey gaze cleared and sharpened as she sat up, letting the blankets slide off her shoulders to puddle on the bed. "I have an idea, something I've been working on with the Kazekage's brother." Her hand reached out to touch the stub of flesh that was once his arm. "I attach chakra receiver rods, under the skin and attach the chakra network to them. The prosthetic itself has an artificial chakra system in it, your chakra and nerve endings would stretch via the connection and work the limb just like it was yours."

Tsunade moved, leaning over him as her voice got faster evidence of all the work and thought that had gone into this. "You don't have to be a puppet user to operate the limb. It's an amplification of your own chakra network. The sensitivity is as close as you can get to the actual thing."

He watched her, half in wonder. This was the Tsunade he hadn't seen since they were teenagers, the earnest and striving medic. She was happy, happier than she was behind that desk he left her with and happier than she was been on that bench.

"Do it. Heal me and fix me an arm. I want…" His free hand came up to pinch his nose, a sure sign of nervousness. "I want to hold you properly and I need two arms to do it."

She blushed. Even in the dark of the room, he could see the red tinge; almost feel the heat rise from her. It made him grin and sit up so that his face is close to hers, white teeth glinting in the moonlight as he teased.

"Your face is flushed. Are you getting sick Tsunade?"

The blush intensified even as she inwardly berated herself. Damn him for getting under her skin. "I'm not. I don't get sick."

"Hime if you aren't sick, why is your face red?"

Whiskey colored eyes glared at him, even as her mind scrambled to form a retort. He unnerved her just as much as he brought peace with his presence. It was an odd jumble, but it worked. Her mouth opened before closing again with a snap as his fingers traced her cheek.

"Can I touch you?"

The words were asked quietly, his low voice barely reaching her ears even with the stillness of the room.

"Can I trace fingertips over your curves and see for myself that you're real and whole?"

Time had changed them both. He wouldn't have asked for permission in his youth, and she would have never granted it. This whole scenario would have never played out. A brow arched, a forced show of nonchalance to combat her shortness of breath.

"Smooth words Jira. Is it a line from your book?" There was a pause before she added in a much softer tone. "Trace what you like, I'm not going anywhere."

She nearly unmanned him. Her smooth words and soft yes had his hand trembling like a genin on his first mission. Still, still he pressed on, lightly tracing the curve of her cheek before ghosting over plump lips. She was soft, despite her abrupt personality and completely still as he touched his fill.

Fingers tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear, only to have it fall back forward immediately. It made him smile and move on to touch her ear and then curl his palm so that the back of his hand smoothed down the cords of her neck.

Tsunade parted her lips and kept her eyes steady on his face. He looked as if he was solving some great puzzle, his hand moving down her neck and across the expanse of her chest. He didn't dip below the v of her sleep yukata, instead merely followed the line of soft cloth down and up before moving his hand back and waiting. Any move more, would be because she wanted it.

Manicured hands undid the ties at her side and slowly the fabric slid from her shoulders to rest on the bed below, leaving her bare from the waist up.

"By the Sage you're beautiful."

He hadn't meant to say to say the words out loud, but wouldn't take them back. She looked like some deity brought down from on high, the shadows playing on her frame so that her skin appeared dappled and full of secrets. His breathing deepened even as his hand kept that same light touch, tracing ribs to where waist indented and then down and across following the line of scars from her battle with the Uchiha. It still scared him, how close he came to losing her.

Her hand closed over his and brought it up to curve around her breast. Startled dark eyes glanced up to meet her amber gaze. He wouldn't ask if she was sure, he wouldn't ask anything, not when her breast was a heavy weight in his palm, the tip already pebbled. His calloused hand dropped curving around her waist to haul the blonde into his lap, wanting her closer, needing that contact.

Heat met heat through the layers of clothing and had her hands dropping taking big fistfuls of hair to pull his head back and touch her mouth to his. It didn't matter that they were too old for this sort of nonsense, or that he was scarred. It didn't matter that she had spent more of her life broken than not.

All that mattered was now, here, and each other.

He wanted her, more than anything he wanted to strip their clothing and sink into her. His body shook with it, and he was so hard it hurt. But he wouldn't, not like this. When they made love he would have two arms to do it with, and he'd love her like she deserved.

Jiraiya reluctantly pulled away and panted resting his forehead against hers. "Hime I ca-"

Her finger came up to touch his lips, silencing him.

"Idiot, do you think I don't know you." She said lightly even as her body churned with need. "Let's sleep; I have a lot to do tomorrow and a letter to send to Suna."


	4. Chapter 4

Tsunade bit her thumb. It was a gesture carried over from childhood, and not a hygienic one, but it helped her mind focus. The call had gone out to Suna and the measurements taken from Jiraiya's remaining arm to base the prosthetic off of. She performed the surgery yesterday to slip the amplifier pieces under the skin and then worked for hours attaching the complicated web of chakra to them.

There in a waiting game now, and the Toad Sage was anything but patient. He'd left the hospital and had since taken to pacing and snapping at anyone unfortunate enough to try and strike of a conversation with him. His actions didn't trouble her as much as his words a few nights before. He was still hung up on losing an arm. He was still convinced that bit of missing flesh made him less a man.

It simply wouldn't do.

She loved him, would never say the words but he was hers and with or without an arm. He was whole in her eyes. She looked down at her ragged thumbnail and dropped her hand in disgust. Jiraiya needed a heel in the ass to get out of this rut, and she was just the person to do it.

He was easy to find. The man had holed himself up in her Hokage quarters with his typewriter slowly pecking out his next novel. It was a pitiful sight to say the least. Tsunade let the door slam behind her and strode over leaning so that her face blocked his view and spoke in an even tone.

"You're a terrible writer."

Charcoal eyes dragged themselves up from her exposed cleavage to glare at her. "I don't need your critique Hime."

She smirked and inwardly danced glee. He was perturbed, she wanted to see if she would tweak into outright anger and then go from there. "Really, I thought you valued opinions, or can you just not take someone not falling down on you in adoration."

"What the hell are you talking about Tsunade? I'm…" He voice was rough and almost guttural as he stood towering over her. "Why are you doing this? Like I need someone flattering me, I put up with you and you wouldn't know how to be nice if it bit you on the ass."

Her foot, heeled in black stepped on the table, followed by the other as she moved to lessen their height distance.

"Bah, look at you. Pecking away at your writer like some sort of broken thing. Where's the Sannin I fought with? Where's the man that fought Orochimaru while drugged? Hmmm… where did he go?"

Jiraiya reached out, his hand curling into the collar of her kimono top as his voice rose in a shout. "He broke! He went to go fight like a good little Shinobi and got his arm ripped off and left for dead by a bitch of a Hokage who couldn't be bothered to care!"

Her brow rose, even as her stomach trembled. Did he really think she didn't care? They thought he was dead. Ma and Pa Toad said he was dead. Still…still she wouldn't back down, not from this and not from him. Her hand curled around his wrist and she jerked it back with a flair of chakra, uncaring that the fabric ripped before he could let go.

"Why should I care? Give me a reason." Her voice was sharp egging him on. "Why should a care about a man, because you for damn sure aren't one of my Shinobi right now, who let the loss of his arm of all things define him? Who let one lost battle define him?"

He swelled up, his mouth opening to spew venom, when it clicked what she was doing. Tsunade was crafty, as crafty as it comes. He knew her though, knew that she'd push and prod at him until he was man and then turn it so that he was laughing. Hadn't she done the same thing when they were young and the horrors of war had him breaking?

"You should care because I'm stupid in love with you, Hime."

The blonde stilled her body and even her breath came to a halt as the words processed. How long had they danced around their feelings? She stepped back and her heel met only air. The world tilted as she started to fall, only to have it go in reverse as he grabbed her arm and jerked her back to press her body to his.

"You would think I flustered you Lady Hokage?" he mocked letting her go to slide down his body to stand on her own.

She let her shoulders slump, and for once admitted defeat. He'd gotten under her skin, wormed his way into her heart and she…she was just sick of fighting it.

"It surprised me is all. I thought I was only one stupid with their feelings."

There was silence before his fingers reached out to trace her cheek gently, knowing exactly what it cost her to admit her feelings in the light of day.

"Can I have you Hime? I know I'm not whol-"

"Idiot," she responded venomously. "You could be missing every limb and be whole to me. If you haven't released that yet, I'm simply wasting my time here."

She unmanned him, took those bits of pride and indifference he armed himself with and broke through them as sure as if she'd punched him. She made him strong, forced him to stand beside her, when all he wanted to do was crumble. It was an uncanny thing, to have come so far and only be starting.

-Go to bed Hime. I plan on loving you for the rest of the day."


	5. Chapter 5

Her stomach trembled. It was an odd thing to have nerves at the thought of being bedded by him. Tsunade knew it, and knew his body as well. How many times had she healed him, touched rent flesh and left it unmarred? They'd fought a war together and fell asleep on each other, comfortable as puppies when they were children. He'd held her after she lost her brother, and then again when she lost Dan.

So why was she nervous?

He walked into the bedroom behind her, tall and brimming with masculinity. It made what was feminine in her yearn and want, made her soft when she'd been hard for so long. Hands, manicured save for the ragged thumbnail undid her obi and dropped it to the ground. He simple stood there, unmoving and watched as her body was revealed.

The kimono styled shirt hit the ground before the rest of her clothes were shucked. Eyes the color of wild honey glanced up to meet his. Tsunade shivered, the room wasn't cold but she shivered anyway in a small show of nerves.

Jiraiya watched her strip, knowing what was coming and worried he'd fumble it. They weren't virgins, far from it, but this blonde, stomach scarred and eyes looking steady at his was his first love, only love.

"You're gorgeous." He said quietly before his hand went to untie his belt. The Sannin stripped to be as bare as her, putting his body on display for her to look and touch as she wanted. He was hers, wounded and broken as he was every bit of him.

"You are too." Tsunade replied letting her nerves go. It didn't matter if they fumbled. They had time to try again and get it right. Her hand rose to press fingertips to the raised flesh on his chest. "Make love to me Jiraiya."

He smiled then. She was as bossy as ever, and he was more than willing to follow where she led. His head ducked to press a light kiss to her crown before his arm snaked around her, pressing their bodies together as he fell on to the bed laughing at her squeak and muffled curses.

He released his hold on her waist, switching it instead to grasp that pointed chin and angle her head down for a kiss. She tasted like tea and slightly sweet like dango. It was a heady combination and he tasted his fill of her.

She let him lead; let him direct her movements and when his hot wet tongue invaded her mouth, Tsunade sucked on it in a mimicry of sex. She could feel the length of him against her thigh. It made her want to throw away any semblance of foreplay and sink down on him heat to heat until they couldn't even remember their names.

The meeting of mouths broken, he turned so that she lay beside him. His hand moved then, leaving her face after a last touch against her parted lips. He followed the cords of her neck, down to where her chest rose. Large calloused fingers tweaked and plucked at her nipples until they pebbled and his name broke her lips. It made him painfully erect, but he wanted more. He wanted her thoroughly satisfied.

Lower and lower still his hand wandered, pressing against her stomach and brushing tight curls to touch where she was already wet for him. Fingers brushed the bundle of nerves, teasing it as she shook and moaned.

-More

His thumb kept pressure on that ball of nerves as a finger delved lower and deeper.

-More

Another finger and a teasing dance of digits curling and seeking that spot to make her scream.

-More

His mouth moved to take her breast in between teeth and nip before soothing with his tongue.

Tsunade turned her head left than right, her hair a tangled mess across the pillow. She could no more stop her hips from rising and the sounds of need falling from her mouth than she could her next breath. He was taking her, each push and pull of his hand and swipe of tongue had her closer to that sweet edge.

"Jira- Jiraiya please" the words were a plea, an ache of need, a mate calling out for their other half. He complied, his hand doubling its stroke and fingers curling and twisting until she seized, mouth open in a silent scream and came hard against his hand.

By the Sage she was like a goddess herself, all needs and wanton cries as her body flushed and shook. It made him greedy to see her fly again. Another finger added and he pushed again at tightened walls.

She wasn't having it. Her body was burning up and she wanted, needed to have him there with her. The Sannin pushed him back flat to the mattress throwing her leg over him and pressing heat to heat.

"I need you."

He panted twitching against where she was wet and against him. How could he deny her? Why would he even want to?

"Take me then Hime."

A flex of hips, a hissing breath as they joined flesh, he'd imagined being with her for longer than he wanted to admit, but nothing prepared him for this. She was aggressive and bold and it was all he could do to grit his teeth and hold on as she rode them both to completion.

Later, when she'd collapsed forward on him in a panting puddle of satisfied woman, he chuckled. His hand came up to smooth back where her hair had fallen in front of her face.

"Well Hime, it looks like you beat me again. I'm no match for you."

Tsunade lifted her head to look at him with tired eyes. "Damn right, although knowing you… you'll just keep trying on the off chance you'll win."

His chuckle turned to an outright laugh as he reached to pull the covers up and over them.

"You know me too well."


End file.
